


this is my message in a bottle (i hope that you receive it)

by yutaa



Category: NCT (Band)
Genre: Alternate Universe, Fluff, M/M, Merpeople, Mutual Pining, Romance
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2020-11-17
Updated: 2020-11-17
Packaged: 2021-03-08 20:54:27
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 13,369
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/27433120
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/yutaa/pseuds/yutaa
Summary: Renjun floats — inhales the undeniable taste ofsummer, light and fresh against the tip of his tongue — and lets a stray breeze carry him out to sea.
Relationships: Huang Ren Jun/Na Jaemin
Comments: 14
Kudos: 111
Collections: '00 FIC FEST ROUND TWO





	this is my message in a bottle (i hope that you receive it)

**Author's Note:**

> hello hello!! prompt #00176 at your service! fluff, pining, and heartache were requested... there's a healthy amount of the first two, i think, and maybe not so much heartache :')
> 
> on that note, please forgive any inaccuracies! i know next to nothing about the open sea and/or fishing and/or merfolk lore.. google really pulled through to make this happen!
> 
> & to the wonderful prompter who inspired this - thank you so much for letting me play around w/ these ideas ♡
> 
> enjoy!!

Summer is _hot_.

"Race you to the shore!" Chenle yells. "Loser does the dishes tonight!" And before Renjun can even respond, he's off, arms flailing wildly in the air as he kicks up clumps of sand in his wake.

Renjun scrambles upwards, chasing after him.

"Zhong Chenle!" He shouts, and Chenle's laugh travels easily over the wind. Skidding to a stop before actually getting wet, Chenle turns, triumphant.

"I win —"

His voice breaks into a shriek as Renjun catches up, tackling him and sending both of them down.

"...and now I'm _wet_ ," Renjun hears as he bobs back up to the surface eventually, Chenle pouting right in front of him. "You're such a sore loser."

"You're the one who cheated by giving yourself a head start," Renjun says incredulously, shaking his head to clear his ears. Chenle shoves a wave of water towards him in retaliation.

"Whatever," Chenle says, sticking his tongue out. "You're still doing the dishes."

"Like you would've done them anyway," Renjun says, rolling his eyes. He flops back on his back, ignoring Chenle's sputtering protests, and closes his eyes. The sun is still bright against the inside of his eyelids, and he sighs, the water blissfully cool against his skin. The air smells like sunshine and salt, and he relaxes, letting himself bob along as the water laps rhythmically at his arms.

"I'm going to buy lemonade," Chenle says from somewhere farther away, voice floating over the waves. Renjun hums, raising a hand up to acknowledge him without opening his eyes.

He hears a few splashes as Chenle undoubtedly waddles back to shore, and then it's just him and the sparkling waters.

Renjun floats — inhales the undeniable taste of _summer_ , light and fresh against the tip of his tongue — and lets a stray breeze carry him out to sea.

𓆝𓆟𓆜𓆞𓆡

"I wish I could breathe underwater," Chenle says, leaning against the kitchen counter.

Renjun rolls his eyes, flicking soap suds at Chenle's face.

"Hey!" Chenle yelps, indignant. "I'm being serious!"

"Borrow a scuba tank from one of those tourist shops then," Renjun says, looking up from the plate he's scrubbing at. "They always have extra anyway."

"That's not what I _mean_ ," Chenle says, but he tilts his head, seemingly lost in thought. "You believe in aliens and ghosts, don't you? Do you think there are mermaids in the ocean too?"

"Of course," Renjun says, setting the plate down on the drying rack. He wipes his hand on the kitchen towel. "You know we've only explored ten percent of the ocean, right? There are _definitely_ mermaids and sea monsters out there."

"If I could breathe underwater, I'd swim deep enough that I bet I'd see one," Chenle says seriously, nodding his head to himself. "If they exist, that is."

"You'd have to be able to see underwater first," Renjun snorts, reaching out to pat Chenle on the shoulder on his way out of the kitchen. "If the salt water doesn't sting your eyes when you open them."

"I'll bring goggles and a flashlight," Chenle retorts, following him out. "That won't stop me."

"Sure," Renjun says easily, flopping down on the couch and closing his eyes. The couch dips a little, and Chenle sits, too, poking his head into Renjun's lap.

"Tired?"

Renjun hums, cracking one eye open. "just a little. I always forget how many tourists there are on the weekends."

Chenle hums in understanding.

"Yeah, it does get pretty noisy, I guess," he says, shrugging. "Not necessarily in a bad way though."

"Yeah," Renjun murmurs. "It's kind of fun to see so many people at once."

They both fall silent afterwards, the ceiling fan whirring above them. Outside, a few hundred meters away, the beach has mostly cleared, the buzz of another day slipping away quietly with the setting of the sun.

"Hey," Chenle says, and Renjun looks down at him. "Wanna go to Sailor's Point tomorrow?"

Renjun raises an eyebrow. "You want to take the bus?"

"Why not?" Chenle shrugs. "It's the weekend."

Renjun hums, thinking over the idea.

With its sprawling system of underwater grottos, Sailor's Point was something of a historical relic. Tucked away in a sleepy little village, it was a local favorite — the only buses that still made the twenty-minute trip were old and had no air conditioning, enough to deter most tourists from venturing too far in its direction.

"Please?" Chenle adds, seeing Renjun's expression waver. "We can leave in the morning, before it's too hot."

"You just want to spend a day with Jisung," Renjun says, mouth curving up slightly. "Don't you?"

"Don't change the subject," Chenle says, rolling his eyes, but his cheeks turn pink. "Do you want to go or not?"

"We can go," Renjun decides, and Chenle cheers. "You can look up the bus schedules for tomorrow."

"I'll take care of it," Chenle says, beaming. He stands happily, digging his phone out of his pocket. "Promise."

His fingers fly over his screen, presumably sending off a text to Jisung. Less than half a minute later, his phone buzzes in response, and his expression turns bashful as he looks up at Renjun. "I'll be in my room if you need anything,"

"Go," Renjun huffs amusedly, side-eyeing Chenle's impatient shuffle. "Call your boyfriend and tell him to pick us up tomorrow."

𓆝𓆟𓆜𓆞𓆡

The next morning dawns, bright and humid, and Renjun lets Chenle drag him to the bus stop while he nods along, half-asleep, to Chenle's steady stream of chatter. He barely remembers getting on the bus, greeting the bus driver absentmindedly with a tired smile before flopping down in his seat and closing his eyes. The worn-out seats are as uncomfortable as they are familiar, but Renjun really only has the presence of mind to register a cushion behind his head before he dozes off again.

A little more than a quarter of an hour later, the bus jolts, squeaking to a stop at a dusty road.

"Park Village," the bus driver calls out, and Renjun cracks an eye open, yawning as he stands. Next to him, Chenle is already up, bag slung over his shoulders, and they thank the bus driver — who Renjun, now that he's a little more awake, recognizes as Mr. Kim — together as they get off.

A solitary figure leans against the bus stop, casting a long shadow across the ground. The sun is relentless even early in the morning, and Renjun has to squint to see clearly.

"Jisung!"

Two steps ahead of Renjun, Chenle launches himself forward happily, and Jisung catches him with a grunt, both hands instinctively going to his waist to steady them both.

"I hate when you do that," Jisung grumbles, dusting Chenle's shoulders off. He looks up. "Hi, Renjun."

"Hi," Renjun says back amusedly, watching Chenle squirm as Jisung pats him carefully before letting go.

"Sorry," Chenle says, not sounding very sorry at all, and Renjun laughs as Jisung rolls his eyes and turns around, not bothering to dignify that with an answer.

"Come on," he says, hoisting Chenle's bag on his shoulders and linking their fingers together, tugging him along. "You haven't eaten yet, right? I made breakfast."

𓆝𓆟𓆜𓆞𓆡

The walk back to Jisung's cabin is thankfully short, though Renjun still sweats a little as they climb the last few set of stairs up the hill. The sun is _brutal_ , he thinks, even at half past eight in the morning, and by the time Jisung pushes his gate open, his shirt is already damp.

"You know where the bathroom is," Jisung says once they get in, gesturing in its general direction.

Renjun nods, putting his bag down next to Chenle's on the rug. "Yeah, you guys go ahead," he says. "I'm just gonna go freshen up."

"Bye," Chenle says, waving him off. "We'll be in the kitchen."

"No funny business," Renjun says, rolling his eyes when Chenle sticks his tongue out at him. "Whatever. Jisung wouldn't let you anyway."

"How would you know for sure though?" Chenle asks mischievously.

Beside him, Jisung goes red. "Chenle..."

Undeterred, Chenle continues. "Maybe he's just waiting to strike, like a —"

" _Please_ ," Jisung says, hand covering Chenle's mouth, and Renjun laughs out loud. "At least…," he trails off, looking at Renjun guiltily. "At least wait until he's actually gone."

Renjun stares at them blankly, mind catching up to Jisung's words. When it does, his nose wrinkles. "Oh, gross. I see how it is."

And then it's Chenle's turn to laugh at Renjun's surprised expression, knocking his shoulder against Jisung's. "Hey," he says, smile threatening to take over his face. "That was a good one."

Jisung sucks his cheeks in, pushing Chenle exasperatedly into the kitchen. "This is all your fault," he mutters, loud enough for all of them to hear, and Chenle's answering laugh is audible even as they turn the corner.

Renjun sighs. _Young love_ , he thinks, before turning and making his way to the bathroom.

𓆝𓆟𓆜𓆞𓆡

"Three toothbrushes?"

Chenle looks up at Renjun from the table, chopsticks hanging in mid-air.

"Whoops," he says.

"You could've just _asked_ ," Renjun says, pulling out a chair and sitting down. Jisung hands him a pair of chopsticks, and Renjun hums appreciatively. "Thanks."

"Well," Chenle says, putting his very best smile on. "Renjun. Renjun- _ge_. Can we stay here tonight?"

"Wait," Jisung says, looking back between the two of them. "Chenle, you said he said yes!"

"He's about to, isn't he?" Chenle says, eyes boring a hole into the side of Renjun's head. Renjun picks up a piece of scrambled egg, chews, and swallows.

"Don't pull that on me," Renjun says, narrowing his eyes. "I didn't even pack another set of clo—"

"I did," Chenle says, smiling innocently at him. "For you. _And_ I made sure we turned off and locked everything before we left."

"It's supposed to rain tonight," Jisung chimes in. "You should just stay here instead of having to travel in the rain."

Renjun's eyes flit in between them, feeling distinctly like he's being played.

"Please?" Chenle asks.

"...fine," Renjun says, shaking his head when Chenle lets out a loud whoop and high-fives Jisung.

"I told you he'd say yes," he crows, victorious as he spreads his jam over his bread.

Next to him, Jisung sighs. "You said he'd already _said_ yes."

"Same thing," Chenle says dismissively. He folds the sandwich, giving half of it to Jisung. "Here."

Jisung takes it. "I guess," he says doubtfully, taking a bite.

"They're most definitely not the same thing," Renjun says, sighing and helping himself to some more scrambled eggs. "But seriously, just ask next time, okay?"

"Sure," Chenle says, agreeing easily. He gives Renjun a classic Chenle smile — all teeth and attempted intimidation, but ultimately just cute. "Now you can explore your grottos and caves as late as you want!"

" _Cute_ ," Jisung says, pinching Chenle's cheek, and Renjun snorts.

"Yeah, yeah," he says, eyeing Chenle with equal parts exasperation and fondness. "Eat your breakfast, you menace."

𓆝𓆟𓆜𓆞𓆡

The thing is, Renjun loves the ocean.

Any large bodies of water, really. The larger the better. There's something about the ocean, he thinks — its vastness, the _unknown_ — that's just so comforting. The water is fluid in a way that land isn't, pushing and pulling things along, even if they don't move themselves.

When Renjun was younger, the tide used to amaze him. He'd stand at the edge of the water for hours, water lapping gently against his feet, looking at the shells and rocks the water washed up with amazement.

_This could've come from anywhere in the world_ , he would think, watching the way the shells sparkled in the sun. _And the water brought it here, to me_.

Every groove, every spiral pattern, each cluster of colors — he'd mentally catalogue them all, writing them to memory, until either the tide came and pulled it away again, or it became buried deep within the sand and sediment.

As soon as he was able, Renjun had learned how to swim. The feeling of drifting along in the open sea — there's nothing that can really compare. One has to be careful not to stray into dangerous waters, of course. But Renjun is always careful, and so the ocean, in return, always feels like a warm embrace, enveloping him in her waters and moving him along her currents.

The ocean has also, for the last few years, kept Renjun's only secret safe.

It had happened when he was a little older than when he learned how to swim — old enough to have secrets to keep, but young enough to still believe in fairy tales. He had been watching the tide one day, as per usual, when he had wondered, in a fit of sudden inspiration, if anything that _he_ released would turn up, magically, at the feet of the one it was meant for.

So he had written a message, carefully selected his glass bottle, and set it free with the waves.

Now, he barely remembers the message — something about the ocean being magical. Something about destiny or fate. He'd signed it off, he recalls, with a fancy flourish — his full name and some other random details about him, just in case the person it was Meant For actually wanted to find him. He’d even added a simple, last-minute drawing of a mermaid on the bottle with a blue marker, in hopes of making it look interesting from the outside.

But that had been it — Renjun's one and only secret.

His message in a bottle.

𓆝𓆟𓆜𓆞𓆡

For all that he teases Chenle, Renjun _does_ actually look forward to being able to spend the whole day exploring more parts of the cave system. Sailor's Point, in particular, is a hidden gem, and Renjun decides that he's begrudgingly grateful to have more time to explore it today.

Earning its nickname a few centuries ago, Sailor's Point had, over time, come to be known as a safe haven for sailors and explorers, with its calm waters and mostly smooth, stable rock formations. It also boasted a vibrant ecosystem, with few predatory species, and virtually none that would cause harm to humans.

All this, Renjun reads as he walks alongside the shoreline, familiar plaques interspersed throughout the sand. The main beach in Park Village is much quieter and less densely occupied than the one he and Chenle live near — craning his neck, Renjun can only see a handful of other people there, far enough away that they look like dots along the shore.

He sets down his towel and digs out his goggles. Putting them on, he then loosens them so that they fit around his neck.

Cautiously, Renjun dips a foot into the water.

The water is cool when it laps at his foot, but Renjun is otherwise pleasantly surprised at its warmth. Wading a bit farther into the water, he shivers — not from the cold, but from the gentle motion of the water as it begins to part naturally around him to let him in.

The sand slopes down, and soon enough, the water is brushing against his shoulders. Renjun checks his goggles — still sturdy, as well as the position of the sun of the sky — still relatively early in the day.

_No reason not to go_ , he thinks to himself, so he takes a deep breath and dives in.

𓆝𓆟𓆜𓆞𓆡

The last time Renjun came, many weeks ago, he had discovered something like a kelp forest along the eastern seabed. Shallow enough that he could explore stretches at a time without coming up for air, he had spent the whole day drifting through it, holding his breath in wonder as a school of fish had passed by right beside him.

He'd mapped out a sizable chunk of the kelp forest last time — its southwestern edge, as well as a few hundred meters to the north. This time, Renjun is determined to at least double that area.

Doing so is easier said than done, however, and it takes him about half an hour to find even a trace of the forest. Just when Renjun is debating taking a break, he spots a dark, irregular wave-pattern towards his right. After swimming in that direction for a few minutes, he feels something brush against his arm — a lone strand of kelp floating along in the sea.

Encouraged, Renjun renews his efforts, swimming even farther to his right, until he finally — _finally_ — sees a wall of green. It's the kelp forest, stretching out as far as wide he can see, and within seconds, he's in, brushing up against the stems as he swims through the initial curtain.

The next time he goes up for air, he flops on his back, breathing out an exhilarated laugh. Deciding to rest for a bit, he closes his eyes and lets himself drift along lazily with the current. The sun shines down on him, bright patterns of color swirling on the backs of his eyelids, and he sighs happily, basking in the warmth of it all.

Soon enough, his fingers start to tingle in anticipation, and he blinks his eyes open, flipping back over into the waters. Something sparkles up at him from the seabed — a seashell, maybe — and he inhales carefully, before spiraling downwards to get a closer look.

𓆝𓆟𓆜𓆞𓆡

After a few hours, Renjun ends up with a small collection — a handful of pretty seashells that he releases, occasionally, watching them drift back to the bottom and twinkle from the sand below. Towards the east, the surrounding temperature has shifted, a bit cooler than before, though the sun still filters in well, illuminating the waters as objects glint from the light.

The water ripples, and Renjun goes still, feeling phantom brushes against his skin as something sparkles and winks at him in the distance. It's decently sized and moving slowly, against the direction of the current — a fish, Renjun thinks — and its scales reflect light prettily into the water as it swims farther away.

Renjun drops the rest of his seashells. They drift down to the sand, landing soundlessly, but his attention is already fixated elsewhere, on the slow-moving fish far ahead of him. He weighs his options: let it slip away, or try to catch a closer glimpse and risk scaring it away, and makes up his mind immediately, deciding that he has to at least _try_.

Slowly, Renjun drifts closer, pushing at the water gently in an attempt to move forward without disturbing the fish. Now a little closer, he can make out the color of its scales a little better, a blurry blue-purple that shines beautifully under the light.

Three things happen, then, in rapid succession:

One, Renjun brushes through a thick strand of kelp, causing an almost-inaudible _swish_ sound —

Two, the fish _uncurls_ , and Renjun freezes as it grows larger in size, equally terrified and awed. If he weren't currently underwater, Renjun thinks, his jaw would have likely dropped open, because —

Three, a pair of widened eyes meet Renjun's, before the merman squeaks in alarm and darts foreward.

It takes a second or two for his brain to process the fact that the fish wasn't actually a fish at all, but a _merman_ , before Renjun's limbs kick into gear and he begins to swim furiously.

This seems to agitate the merman even more, and he moves downwards, heading straight towards a giant boulder. Renjun follows his movements, swimming forward, before the merman just — disappears into the rock.

Renjun comes to an abrupt stop in front of the boulder, looking around in confusion. Eyeing the rock suspiciously, he reaches a hand out to feel its surface, only for his hand to slip inside.

Quickly, he sticks his other hand in, which slips through as well.

_It's kelp,_ Renjun thinks to himself in amazement. Feeling out the borders, he discovers a kelp-covered hole about two meters tall and wide.

Pressing his lips together tightly and bracing for impact, he ducks inside.

𓆝𓆟𓆜𓆞𓆡

Whatever Renjun was expecting, it wasn't _this_.

The entrance opens into a sizable cave, and as he drifts farther inside, he slowly begins to rise upwards until he breaks the surface of the water. He breathes in unsteadily, looking around to see pinpricks of light shining through the rock and casting light on the left side of the cave. Alongside that side of the waters is a rocky surface, and Renjun swims there, pulling himself out of the water slowly as he sits on the side and examines the cave.

It's a wide one, with what looks to be many chambers branching off in all sorts of directions. Only one is really lit, though, and he finds himself shifting towards the main source of sunlight to get a closer look.

He shivers slightly, a little cold now that he's out of the water. Standing carefully on the rocks, he feels them out, one by one, to make sure that they won't collapse under his weight, before shifting to them. Slowly, the path takes him down a passage that gets increasingly narrow and bright, before it suddenly opens up into a cavern at least the size of the first one — except this one has much smoother rocks and a higher ceiling.

The sun is dazzling against the waters of this cavern, and when Renjun looks up, he can spot larger gaps in the cave ceiling where the sky is visible, and light peeks through. One patch of the water seems especially colorful, and Renjun sits close to the edge of the water to get a closer glance. As soon as his eyes focus on the patch of color, though, it shifts, and Renjun's mouth parts in amazement when he realizes that it's the merman, colors shimmering underneath the surface of the water.

Slowly, the colors move closer to Renjun, pausing when it's a few dozen meters away from him. When a pair of eyes poke out through the surface of the water to look at him, Renjun almost stops breathing, heart in his throat. They stay like that for another two minutes or so, with the merman staring at Renjun, and Renjun trying his best not to stare at the merman's incredibly blue eyes.

_Say something nice_ , Renjun's mind says succinctly, at the end of the two minutes, so Renjun takes a deep breath and just — goes for it.

"Your scales are very pretty," he says politely, and he watches with amazement as the merman's face glows a soft pink as his tail does a little wiggle in the water.

"Really?" The merman asks, voice shy, and Renjun's entire body lights up with the sound of his voice. _He can talk_ , flashes through his mind, followed by, _oh my god, he's talking to me_.

The merman's chest puffs out a bit after the compliment, and he swims a bit closer, his entire face peeking out at Renjun as he bobs over the water. "Thank you. I, um, worked hard on them."

He hesitates, then — quietly — "do you want to see them?"

"Yes," Renjun says unthinkingly, cheeks flushing at the immediate response. "I mean. If that's okay with you, obviously."

The merman breaks into a small smile. "Yeah," he says, a bit more confidently, his sapphire eyes slanting towards Renjun. "I offered, didn't I?"

And with that, the merman flips over smoothly, tail disappearing and reappearing as he floats, sideways, in front of Renjun.

"You can touch them if you want," he says, as Renjun _stares_.

His tail is even prettier up close, Renjun thinks, a light blue that mellows into a lovely, deep violet at the tail fin. And the _scales_. They shimmer, even more so under the sunlight, and when Renjun finally brushes a finger against one, it feels cool and smooth.

"Wow," Renjun says, flattening his palm experimentally. Beneath his hand, he can feel muscles flexing, and the water around them ripples as the merman floats in place, eyes wide and trusting.

"Your hand is warm," the merman says, and Renjun blinks at him, removing his hand.

"Really?"

"Really," the merman nods. He flicks his tail down, submerging it in the water again as he looks up at Renjun. "It felt nice."

"Oh," Renjun says, a warm feeling spreading in his chest. "Thank you."

He smiles tentatively, and the merman smiles back, small and shy.

"I'm Jaemin," he says, after a pause, and Renjun's mouth parts in surprise.

"Is that...your name?"

"Yes," the — Jaemin says, looking bashful. "I just...wanted you to know."

_He wants you to know his name_ , Renjun's mind highlights, and Renjun has to fight the butterflies in his stomach from showing on his face.

"It sounds beautiful," Renjun says earnestly, instead of something embarrassing like thank you, or even worse, a squeak of excitement. He tilts his head. "What does it mean?"

Jaemin _beams_. "It means one from great waters."

"Jaemin," Renjun murmurs, and Jaemin's smile, if possible, gets even brighter. "Very fitting. It's nice to meet you, Jaemin. My name's Renjun."

"Renjun," Jaemin says, eyes going round. He looks at Renjun in amazement, sounding out the syllables carefully. "Ren _jun_."

"Kind and beautiful," Renjun says, and sees the way Jaemin's freezes, blinking in surprise. "My name," he hurries to clarify. "That's what it means."

"I see," Jaemin says, hands covering his expression. The look in his eyes is unfamiliar, which is expected, Renjun reasons, because it's not like they've met before. But Jaemin's eyes are suspiciously bright, and not in a way that looks angry or upset, and Renjun relaxes a little when he sees that Jaemin is hiding a smile behind his hands.

Jaemin laughs softly, pretty blue eyes looking up at Renjun again from underneath his long eyelashes. "Kind and beautiful," he says, slow, like he's savoring each word. "Very fitting."

Renjun's heart skips a beat at the familiar words, a slow crawl of heat spreading from his cheeks to his ears. He opens his mouth to reply — _thank you_ , maybe, or _I wish_ — but under Jaemin's gaze, his tongue feels clumsy in his mouth, and nothing comes out.

A few seconds pass, and twin spots of pink bloom on Jaemin's cheeks as his expression falls slightly.

"...was that weird?"

Suddenly, Renjun thinks, it is his top priority to make sure that Jaemin's smile doesn't slip off his face.

"No, it was sweet," he says hurriedly, nodding in a way that he hopes is reassuring. His heart races, still, and he tries to ignore the way it pulses insistently in his chest as he focuses on his next sentence. "It really was. Um, thanks. I'm just..."

He trails off, eyes drifting over the shadow of Jaemin's tail in the water, and — yeah.

"Just trying to process everything, I guess," Renjun finishes, with a weak smile.

Jaemin huffs out a breath of laughter. "I was actually just thinking the same thing." He looks up at Renjun with a rueful smile, and he looks and sounds so _human_ that Renjun has to blink, twice, to remind himself that Jaemin isn't.

"You live on _land_ ," Jaemin says, sounding so amazed that Renjun laughs, bright and happy.

Jaemin's mouth turns up at Renjun's expression. "You have two legs," he continues, "so you must...walk everywhere?" His face scrunches adorably. "I have no idea how you would move them separately."

Renjun covers his mouth, smiling widely. "Yeah," he says, smile seeping into his tone. "Yeah, I guess we do feel the same way."

"And, most importantly," Jaemin says softly, "you probably see other humans every day." His expression turns wistful. "I don't really...meet other merpeople, and I see the ones I know once or twice a year. You probably talk to other humans all the time."

"...definitely more than once a day," Renjun says slowly. He tries to imagine it — not talking to anyone for a year — and suddenly feels a little sad for Jaemin. "Once or twice a year. Wow."

"Will you tell me about them?" Jaemin asks, a hopeful look on his face. His cheeks turn rosy-pink again. "Or you can tell me about anything you want. It's been a while since I've had someone to talk to."

Renjun hesitates. "Okay," he starts, and Jaemin inches a little closer to him in the water, close enough that Renjun could reach out to comb his fingers through his hair.

Not that he would, he thinks. Even if he _is_ curious as to how his hair can stay soft when it's constantly in saltwater. He mentally notes to ask Jaemin about it, sometime later.

"Well," Renjun says, bringing his thoughts back to the present. "There's Chenle. We can start with him."

𓆝𓆟𓆜𓆞𓆡

By the time Renjun finishes telling Jaemin about the _third_ time Chenle almost set their holiday decorations on fire, the water is almost-golden from the sun's rays.

"Wow," Jaemin says sincerely, eyes round. "And it was really all an accident?"

"Yeah," Renjun says, shaking his head. "Crazy, right? You would think that after the first time, or the second, that he would've — I don't know. Learned not to put the candles right underneath our paper decorations or something."

"Crazy," Jaemin repeats, amazed. "Chenle sounds very fun. Is he your…"

His nose scrunches. "I don't know what you would call it," he says, frowning. "He seems like someone you care for deeply."

"Oh, I do," Renjun says, nodding. "Absolutely. He's like a brother to me."

Something in Jaemin's face eases, and his mouth parts in a silent ‘o'.

"Like a brother," he says. "I see. A companion, then."

Renjun smiles at his choice of words. "Yeah, that's a good way of putting it. Our parents work pretty far away, and they can't come home often, so it's just me and Chenle for the most part. I've been taking care of him since we were pretty young."

Jaemin nods. "You must have worked hard," he says. Then — "I think I'd like Chenle."

"I think you would too," Renjun says. "Maybe you'll meet him one day."

"That would be nice," Jaemin says, smiling softly at Renjun. His smile, just like all of the ones before it, takes Renjun's breath away, and for the second time, Renjun realizes that there is very little that he wouldn't do to keep this smile — genuine and sweet — on Jaemin's face.

The moment is broken by the sound of wind whistling through the cave, and Renjun jerks as he takes in the position of the sun.

"Oh wow, I have to _go_ ," he says, scrambling upwards. "It's almost sunset."

Jaemin follows his gaze, eyes widening with genuine surprise. "I didn't even realize so much time had passed."

"You know, time flies when you're having fun," Renjun says, laughing.

"Time flies when you're having fun," Jaemin repeats, the edges of his mouth curving upwards. "I've never heard that phrase before, but I like it."

"It is pretty cute, isn't it?" Renjun says. He hesitates, looking at Jaemin and feeling his heart flutter again.

He really, _really_ doesn't want to go.

"Well," he says, forcing himself to keep eye-contact with Jaemin's pretty blue eyes. "It was nice meeting you."

"It was nice meeting you too," Jaemin says softly.

It's quiet. Renjun shifts his weight from one foot to the other, not really knowing what to say, but feeling a bit awkward at the silence.

"Okay," he says finally, turning slightly. He gives Jaemin a hesitant smile. "I'll go then."

"Wait —"

Jaemin's tail swishes nervously in the water. "Before you go, I just wanted to ask," he says, voice small. "Will you...come back?"

Renjun stares at him, surprised.

"Do you...want me to?"

Jaemin shrinks a little. "I wouldn't mind," he says, unsure, voice tilting up at the end, like he's asking a question instead of answering one. "Only if you, um. Have time, of course. You must be busy."

"Then yes," Renjun says immediately. Now that he knows Jaemin would be okay with it, there's only one real answer. "I would love to," he adds, blushing as his mind catches up to his mouth. "I know I kind of followed you here, and, um, you don't know me very well, but —"

"Renjun," Jaemin says, eyes shining, and Renjun's mouth clamps shut.

Jaemin drifts a little closer to the rock that Renjun is on, propping his face in his hands. "I want to see you again," he says plainly, devastatingly honest in a way that contrasts his uncertainty from before.

"...oh."

"Yes, oh," Jaemin says, breaking into a beatific smile. "So come whenever you want, okay?"

"Yeah," Renjun breathes, mesmerized. "Yeah, I'll — I can come tomorrow."

Jaemin's smile widens. "Well, I'll be here."

"I can't stay for very long," Renjun says regretfully. "But I'll come in the morning for as long as I can."

"That's okay," Jaemin says, tail wiggling happily in the water. "I'll see you for as long or as short as you can stay, then."

He looks up at the sky, then back to Renjun. "Now go, silly human. The sun's almost done setting." Flashing Renjun another smile — quick, with a hint of teeth — Jaemin turns and disappears with a splash.

Renjun watches the ripples of the water get farther and farther away, until they disappear, and the only traces of his afternoon are the water on the rocks and the color on his cheeks.

_Jaemin_ , Renjun mouths to himself. A warm feeling lights up from within him, a soft sort of buzzing, and he feels, distinctly, like he's going to melt.

𓆝𓆟𓆜𓆞𓆡

"And where have _you_ been?"

Chenle's arms are crossed in front of his chest, brandishing a spatula threateningly in Renjun's direction. "Dinner is almost ready."

"I lost track of time," Renjun says, trying to sound mysterious. "Lots of things to discover, you know."

Chenle narrows his eyes, opening his mouth to reply, when —

"Chenle!" Jisung calls. "Do I have to wash the lettuce with soap?"

Chenle's expression falls so quickly it's almost comical. "No!"

A brief pause.

"...are you sure?"

Chenle sighs deeply. "You," he says to Renjun, "can go shower, while I try to save our dinner from Jisung." He humphs, nodding decisively to himself. "But this conversation isn't over!"

Just then, the sound of silverware clattering against the floor reaches their ears, and Chenle freezes.

"We'll talk about this later," he groans, pointing the spatula at Renjun one last time before turning and sprinting back to the kitchen.

𓆝𓆟𓆜𓆞𓆡

Renjun finds, after he finishes showering, that he can't stop smiling.

He examines himself curiously in the mirror, pulling the corners of his mouth down with his fingers. When he lets go, though, his lips tilt upwards again, and he spends the next two minutes repeating the same two motions over and over, smile growing wider each time.

_Huh_ , he thinks eventually, and settles for smiling — not that he ever stopped — at his reflection.

His good mood doesn't diminish in the slightest once dinner starts. Outside, the sky grows dark, and he catches himself thinking of random questions — _do merpeople sleep with their eyes open?_ — while he eats.

Chenle notices, of course.

"Alright," he says, spoon clinking against his bowl as he puts it down. "What's the news?"

"News?" Renjun repeats. He looks up at Chenle. "I don't have any news."

"Right," Chenle says, stretching out the vowels. "Which is why that smile hasn't left your face, or why you kept humming love songs earlier when you were setting the table." He shoots a glance at Jisung. "Back me up here."

Jisung coughs, gaze drifting from Chenle to Renjun.

"Well," he says slowly. "You do seem...happy?"

Renjun smiles innocently. "I have no idea what you're talking about. I'm always happy."

"Ha!" Chenle says, stuffing a ball of rice into his mouth. "Just this morning you were complaining about how we tricked you into staying the night."

Jisung winces as Chenle talks and chews at the same time, bringing his hand up in front of Chenle's mouth.

"And now you're smiling like you've just discovered aliens are real," Chenle says, swallowing and continuing. " _Something_ must have happened."

"First of all," Renjun says, waving his chopsticks in the air. "Aliens _are_ real. Even Jisung thinks so."

Jisung nods, agreeing. "You never know," he says seriously. "Better safe than sorry."

"Exactly." Renjun puts his chopsticks down. "Second —"

He leans back in his chair, crossing his arms. "I think staying overnight was a _great_ idea. Maybe we should do this more often."

Chenle and Jisung blink at him, thrown.

Jisung recovers first.

"Wait, really?"

"Really," Renjun says, shrugging. "Maybe we can make this a weekly thing."

"That's — yeah," Jisung says, turning to poke Chenle's shoulder. "That's...great? Right, Chenle? We were just talking about this."

"I mean," Chenle says slowly, "yes. We were." He looks at Jisung. "He's acting weird, right? It's not just me? Maybe aliens _are_ real, and the real Renjun was kidnapped today."

He shakes his head, visibly reorienting himself. "Who are you and what have you done with my brother?"

To which Renjun just smiles. "Maybe I'm just appreciating Park Village for its natural beauty. It'd be nice to see it more often."

Chenle scrunches his nose in disbelief. "I know you, _ge_ ," he says, narrowing his eyes. "I'll get it out of you eventually. You can't hide anything from me."

"There's nothing to hide," Renjun says, still smiling. And then, because he can never pass up an opportunity to tease Chenle — "...yet."

Chenle's eyebrows shoot upwards. "Yet?!"

𓆝𓆟𓆜𓆞𓆡

Renjun slips out of Jisung's house early the next morning, a few minutes before sunrise, morning mist still hanging delicately in the air.

This early, the beach is silent, and his feet crunch comfortably in the sand when he makes it to the shoreline. It's easy to retrace his steps — the kelp parting easily before him as he enters the cave, swimming upwards until the water gives way to smooth rock. He breaks the surface of the water easily, pulling himself up and padding along the left edge, and soon enough, the path narrows before rounding out into the cavern from yesterday.

The water is still, and Renjun makes his way to the water's edge cautiously, heart thumping steadily in his chest.

"Hello," he calls softly, voice echoing throughout the chamber.

"It's me, Renjun," he adds, after a few moments of silence. He crosses his arms protectively, feeling a little stupid when there isn't a reply.

_Maybe Jaemin's still sleeping_ , he thinks to himself, frowning slightly. He should've come later.

Just then, something darts into his view, the brief shape in the water the only warning he gets as a wave of water splashes him in the face.

Renjun sputters, tasting salt in the back of his mouth. When his eyes clear, he sees a familiar figure, half-perched on the rock Renjun is on.

"You —"

"Hi," Jaemin says, a small, mischievous smile playing at his lips. "And good morning."

Amazingly, Jaemin looks just as good as Renjun remembers, if not even better. Without the sun having fully risen in the sky, the shimmer of his scales have more of a cool tint, though they still seem to glow in what little light they do have.

Renjun smiles back despite himself. "Hi," he says, scooting closer and trying his best to sound offended. "You _splashed_ me."

"Sorry," Jaemin says, giggling at Renjun's expression, but he sounds more pleased with himself than apologetic. "Do you want to come in the water with me? It's pretty nice today."

" _Yes_ ," Renjun breathes, his eyes lighting up at the thought. Jaemin's expression brightens similarly, and he disappears with a plop, resurfacing to hold a hand out to Renjun.

"Okay," Renjun says to himself, taking a deep breath. He feels nervous, suddenly, like he hasn't been swimming for at least the last ten years of his life, and he stands slowly, looking at the waters down below.

The waters shimmer invitingly back at him.

He reaches out to take Jaemin's hand, and Jaemin's smile softens as he feels the way his fingers shake slightly.

"Don't be nervous," Jaemin says gently. "I won't let anything happen to you."

He squeezes Renjun's hand reassuringly. "Ready?"

"Yeah," Renjun says, squeezing back even harder, and Jaemin's eyes crinkle as he tugs, pulling Renjun in.

"My turn to introduce you to _my_ world," he says, after Renjun's face reappears above the water. He's still holding Renjun's hand, and Renjun feels a rush of warmth travel through him as Jaemin tightens his grip, eyes travelling over his body to check that he's okay, before letting go.

"I know you don't have a lot of time," Jaemin says, "so we won't go anywhere." His eyes sparkle at him, even in the dimly-lit cavern, and Renjun has to blink twice, almost dizzy with the full focus of those wide, blue eyes. "Swim with me?"

Underneath the water, his tail swishes against Renjun's legs, and Renjun shivers at their proximity. "Okay," he says quietly, smiling back at Jaemin. "I'll try my best."

"You're a good swimmer," Jaemin says, and Renjun's chest bursts into butterflies. They bat their wings relentlessly, only intensifying their fluttering when Jaemin smiles, soft and sweet, and leans in even closer.

"I'll go slow," Jaemin promises, curling around him and placing his hands on Renjun's shoulders. "Nod when you're ready?"

Renjun exhales, feeling his heart swoop in anticipation. Closing his eyes, he breathes in deeply, holding the air down deep inside, before opening them and nodding at Jaemin, who nods back and pushes him down gently into the water.

At first, they just drift next to each other, before Jaemin presses him ahead gently and thrusts forward. Renjun kicks, too, and together, they cut through the water, spiraling around each other.

True enough, Jaemin keeps to his word, his movements slow and steady as he swims next to Renjun. Occasionally, his tail will curl around Renjun's legs, pushing him gently in one direction as the water swirls around them. It's exhilarating, Renjun thinks, every brush of Jaemin's tail a reminder of the sheer strength beneath those smooth, shimmering scales.

They swim slow, lazy laps around the rocks, gliding smoothly through the waters as the currents turn warm, more and more light filtering through as the sun rises. Eventually, Jaemin takes Renjun's hand, tugging him to the surface, and they float up and out of the water easily, next to the rock that they started at.

Jaemin nudges Renjun upwards, and together, they climb out of the water and onto the rock's smooth surface. It's much brighter in the cavern than it was before, and the first thing Renjun sees when they've both settled comfortably onto the rock is Jaemin — smiling breathlessly at him, with eyes glittering like crushed blue crystal and sunlight threading through his hair.

"I know you probably have to go," Jaemin says. "How was it?" His voice is hopeful, a current of nervousness evident in the way he hesitates before asking.

"Amazing," Renjun answers honestly, smiling back helplessly, and the tension bleeds out of Jaemin's shoulders as he exhales in relief. "You're so cool in the water, seriously. Thank you for slowing down for me."

"Of course." Jaemin smiles bashfully. "I'm glad you liked it." He flushes, and Renjun watches with amazement as the colors on his tail also deepen slightly, a brilliant cobalt spreading through the lighter regions.

"Oh," Jaemin squeaks, when he follows Renjun's gaze and notices his tail's color. "That's — I — wow, that's embarrassing."

"Wow," Renjun breathes. "Does this usually happen?"

Jaemin's cheeks get even pinker, if possible. "Only when I'm really...happy," he says, voice quieting to a whisper. Under Renjun's eye, the intensity of color spreads downwards, until even his tail fin is a gleaming violet.

"Oh my god," Jaemin says, burying his face in his hands. "I'm sorry. I can't really...control it? It kind of just does what it wants."

"It's so beautiful," Renjun says, looking up at him in wonder. "Don't apologize. This is — no, wait. _You_ are amazing."

"Thank you," Jaemin says, fingers curling in embarrassment. "You're too nice to me." His lip trembles slightly when he smiles again. "Careful, or I might not let you leave."

"I wish I didn't have to," Renjun says thoughtlessly, still enraptured by the way his scales reflect scattered spots of light onto the rock. "But I'll come back as soon as I can."

_So, so, so pretty_ , he thinks to himself, and misses the way Jaemin stares back at him and thinks the same.

𓆝𓆟𓆜𓆞𓆡

The following weekdays are painfully slow, even during breaks from work, which Renjun spends mostly indoors, sitting in one of the staff-only lounges and napping. His dreams are vague, formless things — flashes of consciousness, where he recalls, faintly, that he's trying to unknot a giant ball of string — interspersed with familiar flashes of blue.

So he dreams of Jaemin, and always, _always_ , wakes up with a slight curve to his lips. Chenle comes in once towards the end of his break, catching his dazed, post-sleep smile and giving him a weird look.

"What's with you?" Chenle asks, and Renjun raises a hand to him in response, letting it flop back down after a few seconds.

Chenle pokes around in the refrigerator, pulling out an orange after a few seconds and making his way over to the couch.

"Move," Chenle says, collapsing unceremoniously onto the couch, next to Renjun. "I just had the _noisiest_ group," he says, starting to peel the orange. "A bunch of thirteen-year-olds who thought it'd be cool to try and feed the seagulls."

Renjun snorts.

"My thoughts exactly," Chenle says, rolling his eyes. "Terrible idea, terrible execution. One of them fell over into the ocean, and — here's the best part — he couldn't swim. So I had to haul him out, sandals on and everything, since I didn't even have time to take them off."

He wiggles his feet, grimacing. "I think I still have some sand stuck to the sides," he says. "Whatever. I heard we're supposed to be getting a new lifeguard next week, so hopefully they'll be able to handle all that from now on."

"Hopefully," Renjun echoes. "It'll be nice to actually have a lifeguard."

Chenle hums. "Yep. We'll see."

His alarm goes off.

"That's my ten minutes," Renjun says, stretching his arms out and sitting up. "Party of three."

"Lucky," Chenle says enviously. "I just did two parties of 10, back to back. Pretty sure the camp field trips are starting up or something."

"Yeah, it's about that time," Renjun says sympathetically. He stands, rubbing the remnants of sleep out of his eyes. "I'm gonna go."

"Go," Chenle says, without looking up from his orange. He pops a slice into his mouth, chews, and swallows. "Oh, wait. One minute."

Renjun turns towards him. "Yeah?"

"Jisung asked me earlier today if you were serious about the weekly thing," Chenle says. "He's thinking about fixing up the other cabin so you can stay in it in a month or so — you know, the one that's a fifteen minute walk away — and I don't want him to go to all that effort if you were joking."

His eyes sharpen. "Were you?"

"Not really," Renjun says slowly. "I do want to go back next weekend. And probably the weekend after that too. We've talked about living there once summer ends, right? I think we should visit more to figure out if that's something we actually want to do."

Chenle's mouth opens in surprise. "I didn't know you were actually considering that," he says. "The last time I brought it up, you basically said no."

Renjun shrugs. "People change."

"Hm," Chenle says contemplatively. "Well, okay then. I'll let Jisung know."

𓆝𓆟𓆜𓆞𓆡

The next time Renjun sees Jaemin, it's right as he swims into the kelp forest, a sudden shift of water against his side before he feels an intentional brush against his foot. He darts upwards, towards the surface, and feels something curl familiarly around his legs, propelling him upwards much more quickly than he could've travelled.

Jaemin lets go of him as soon as they reach the surface, tail glittering in the sunlight as he continues upwards, arcing over the water before flipping over and swimming back to Renjun.

"Hi, Renjun," Jaemin says, smile wide and infectious. "I want to show you something."

"Okay," Renjun says, returning his smile. "Lead the way."

Jaemin ends up taking Renjun back to the cave, swimming past the now-familiar kelp entrance.

"We're going in this one this time," Jaemin says excitedly, pointing to one of the smaller chambers. "Close your eyes."

Renjun obliges, and Jaemin takes his hand, tugging him gently towards the right.

"Okay," Jaemin says, voice echoing around them. "You can look now!"

Renjun opens his eyes, and his jaw drops.

Around them are hundreds of trinkets, both above and below water level, arranged carefully in the spaces of the rock. Each one shimmers softly in the sunlight, reflecting colors on the walls and into the water. The more Renjun looks, the more he _sees_ — a handheld mirror in one corner, a pair of ornate, golden earrings in the other, and so, so many shells, iridescent in their beauty.

"Wow," he whispers, turning to Jaemin. "Did you collect all of these?"

Jaemin nods. "Things turn up over the years," he says softly, "but I try to only take the things that no one will miss."

"I'm almost scared to swim around," Renjun says, looking around in awe. "I feel like I'm going to knock something out of place."

Jaemin beams. "They're very sturdy," he says, reassuring Renjun. "I'll show you."

Flicking his tail, he glides over to one of the walls. "This one is my favorite."

Renjun swims over too, gazing at the wall curiously. A faded ballet slipper, a pink shell, a miniature plastic flamingo, another slightly larger pink shell...

"Pink?"

"Yes!" Jaemin says. "That's my favorite color."

Renjun wanders closer, watching the way all the objects float in place. "A flamingo," he says, when he's next to the plastic toy, and Jaemin tilts his head curiously.

"Is that what it's called?"

"Yeah," Renjun says, and Jaemin floats a little closer, eyes wide.

"I never knew if it was a real animal or not," Jaemin admits. "I just thought it looked very cool."

"To be honest," Renjun says, smiling sheepishly, "I haven't seen them in real life either. I've only heard about them."

"Can they swim?" Jaemin asks. "Its legs are so _thin_."

Renjun scrunches his nose. "I think they can," he says, and Jaemin makes a soft sound of surprise. "But only at the surface."

"Very impressive," Jaemin says, eyeing the plastic flamingo's spindly legs doubtfully.

After a few seconds, his tail pokes at Renjun. "Come see the other walls?"

"Of course," Renjun says, letting Jaemin pull him forward. "Hey, Jaemin."

Jaemin pauses to look back at him.

"This is a beautiful collection," Renjun says, smiling. "Thank you for trusting me with it."

Jaemin's cheeks go pink again as he blushes, and — _hm_ , Renjun thinks. He's starting to see the appeal of that color.

"I'm glad you like it," Jaemin says, sounding the slightest bit pleased. He hesitates.

"And you trusted me with your life last time," he says, finally, shy and sweet. "I wanted to show you how much I appreciated it."

𓆝𓆟𓆜𓆞𓆡

Renjun ends up staying especially long, having told Chenle and Jisung not to wait for him that morning. Jaemin takes him around each individual chamber and explains their purposes to him, and afterwards, they sit — well, Renjun sits, while Jaemin drifts lazily in the water — and talk for hours.

By the time he makes it back, the moon is high in the sky. Towel wrapped around himself, he enters Jisung's house quietly, doing his best to avoid the squeaky steps.

He's halfway down the hallway to his room when he hears voices from Jisung's bedroom.

"Do you actually think he'll agree?"

A sigh. Renjun tiptoes closer.

"I don't know." Chenle's voice is sleepy. "I was so surprised when he brought it up all of a sudden last week at work."

Renjun pauses outside of Jisung's room, worrying at his bottom lip. He doesn't _mean_ to eavesdrop, he thinks, but his curiosity gets the best of him, and he leans in a little closer to the door.

"He's been changing his mind on a lot of things recently," Jisung is saying. "First it was staying overnight, then it was coming weekly, and now he's saying he'll think about moving here after summer's over."

"It definitely has to do with whatever he gets up to during the day," Chenle says, sounding a bit more awake. "I don't know what it is, but he's been so _happy_ recently."

Jisung hums. "That's a good thing, isn't it?"

"Yeah, I guess," Chenle says. "I wish he'd tell us what was going on, but I guess it's fine as long as he's not in trouble, which I don't think he is."

"True," Jisung says. He sighs. "It'd just be really nice if you could stay here. Seeing you every day would be..."

His trails off, leaving his sentence unfinished. "I hope he says yes."

There's some murmuring — too low to be comprehensible, before it grows quiet again.

In the hallway, Renjun uncrosses his arms, padding back to his room silently. His head swirls with thoughts, uncertain and confusing.

_Seeing you every day would be…_

That night, his dreams are murky.

𓆝𓆟𓆜𓆞𓆡

"Hey, Jisung?"

Jisung looks up from the table the next morning, turning around to look at Renjun. "Yeah?"

Renjun bites his lip. "Do you know any waterproof fabrics?"

Jisung cocks his head to the side, humming thoughtfully. "Fabrics? So no plastic or wax?"

"Yeah, definitely no plastic," Renjun frowns. "Probably no wax too."

"Most waterproof materials are laminated or synthetic," Jisung says, shrugging. "Is there something specific you have in mind?"

Renjun sits down, dropping his face in his hands. "Not really," he mumbles. "I'm trying to make something for swimming, and I just realized that most fabrics aren't really waterproof, so they won't really last in the water."

"Well, sheep wool is pretty water resistant," Jisung says slowly. "Since they have that natural oil on them. It's just that the fibers are typically knit loosely together, which lets water in. Maybe you could use some really felted wool? It might not be waterproof, but it shouldn't be that affected by the water, either."

He hesitates. "I can ask around some of the farms, if you want? I'm sure someone can get you some heavily felted sheep wool."

Renjun looks up at him. "That would be...amazing, actually," he says, blinking in surprise. "If you can find someone who's willing to let me buy some fleece off of them, I can take care of the rest."

"Oh, yeah," Jisung says, wrinkling his forehead. "I can definitely find something. I'll go after you guys leave today."

"Park Jisung," Renjun says seriously, and Jisung's eyes widen at the use of his full name. "You are _actually_ a lifesaver."

Jisung breaks into a sheepish smile. "Don't say that," he says, waving the compliment off. "We're basically family at this point. It's really not a problem at all."

"Still," Renjun says. "It's a favor, so I owe you one, okay?" His mind flashes back to what he'd heard the night before, and he makes a mental note to seriously look into the process of moving.

"Okay," Jisung says, shrugging. "But really, don't worry about it. I'll let you know what I find."

𓆝𓆟𓆜𓆞𓆡

Renjun realizes he's in trouble later that week, when he visits Kun's for lunch and finds himself wondering if Jaemin would like the salmon sashimi.

Kun takes one look at him and raises a single, perfectly-exaggerated eyebrow.

"Who's the lucky one?" he asks, refilling his water.

Renjun blinks. "Sorry?"

Kun rolls his eyes. "You think I don't recognize the look on your face? I used to see it every day in the mirror."

He sets Renjun's water back down. "You, young man, are _pining_."

"I'm _not_ ," Renjun insists, face heating up underneath Kun's nonjudgmental gaze.

"Right," Kun says, humming to himself. "That's what they all say. Then, a few weeks later, they come in, either happily committed or heartbroken. ‘You were right, Kun,' they say. ‘Thanks for the advice.'"

He looks pointedly at Renjun. "You can't escape your emotions," he says, shaking his head. "They'll catch up to you eventually. It's better to just admit it to yourself now."

𓆝𓆟𓆜𓆞𓆡

_They'll catch up to you eventually._

Kun's words are still in his mind as he clocks out of work that evening. His last tour had been with a couple — on their honeymoon, by the looks of it — and he hadn't been able to stop himself from noticing the way they'd held hands with each other as he had taken them around the beach.

He'd returned, feeling a little lost as they thanked him and made their way off together. One of them had slung their arm around the other's shoulder and pecked their cheek, and Renjun had watched them until they disappeared, an odd feeling in his chest at the casual display of intimacy.

Checking the schedule, he sees that Chenle still has at least another two hours before he's done. Deciding reluctantly to head back early, he picks his bag up and makes his way to the lounge, turning off the lights —

— only to run right into Doyoung when he comes back out into the hallway.

"Renjun!" Doyoung says. "Just who I wanted to see."

Behind Doyoung is someone that Renjun has never seen before, and he looks over his flamingo-patterned shirt with curiosity.

"Hi Doyoung," Renjun says back, looking away from the stranger's shirt. "Do you need me for anything?"

"Actually, yes," Doyoung says. He steps to the side and gives flamingo-shirt man a gentle nudge. "This is Lucas. He's new!"

Lucas waves, and Renjun waves back politely.

"Hi!" Lucas says. "I'm Lucas, but you can call me Yukhei or Xuxi, whichever you prefer. I'm the new lifeguard."

_So this is the lifeguard Chenle mentioned_ , Renjun thinks. He holds his hand out, and Renjun obliges, shaking his hand.

His hands are big, Renjun notes absentmindedly.

"Xuxi then," Renjun says, smiling faintly. "It's nice to meet you. I'm Renjun. Chenle and I — you'll probably meet him later — give most of the tours around here."

"Great," Doyoung says cheerfully, clapping his hands together. "You'll probably be seeing each other often, so, Renjun, show him around a little, okay?"

His phone rings, and Doyoung looks down at the caller ID. "I'm going to take this," he says. "Be civil, and have fun!"

Then Doyoung is gone, and it's just Xuxi and Renjun standing in the hallway.

"So," Xuxi says, rocking on his heels and smiling. "I know it's kind of late already. Wanna give me an unofficial tour of the restaurants around here and grab an early dinner with me instead?"

Xuxi has a friendly sort of face, Renjun decides, and a nice smile — the kind that leaves a good impression. Even the flamingo shirt fits him, somehow, the neon pink birds a fun little splash of color.

"Sure," he says, and he finds himself smiling in return. "I know just the place."

𓆝𓆟𓆜𓆞𓆡

"Back already?"

Kun seats them both, giving Renjun a knowing look as he passes them the menus, and Renjun realizes with a start that Kun thinks Xuxi is...the one he's pining over. This, for some reason, makes him feel oddly defensive, and he frowns a little as Kun cracks a joke — one he doesn't hear — with Xuxi.

"Call me over whenever you're ready to order," Kun says, patting him on the back, and Renjun blinks, mildly annoyed. "I'll be back with your drinks soon."

"Sounds good," Xuxi says. "So, Renjun, you come here often?"

Renjun's insides twist weirdly. It's not Xuxi's fault, he reminds himself, and he tries for a smile as he scans the menu. "All the time," he says. "But Kun's is seriously the best place to go. You'll love the food here."

He hesitates, thumbing the edge of the menu nervously. "I hope so, at least," he laughs. "If it's not great, pretend I never said anything."

"I'm sure it'll be good," Xuxi says, smiling at him. "I'll just have whatever you're having." His gaze is warm and fixated on Renjun's face, and Renjun feels a little embarrassed when he looks up and their eyes meet.

"Okay," Renjun says, looking away and smiling awkwardly. "I'll order for both of us then."

𓆝𓆟𓆜𓆞𓆡

"And then, after the food came, he finished it so fast," Renjun recounts. "We ended up ordering more, since I could tell he was probably still hungry and just didn't want to impose. I think Kun was flattered though, that he liked the food so much."

Jaemin frowns. "It sounds like you were getting pretty close, then."

"Yeah," Renjun says thoughtfully. "You could say that. Xuxi really isn't bad at all. He offered to pay at the end, which was nice of him to do. I mean, I was supposed to be showing him around, so I would've paid, but he insisted, so I let him."

_You can pay next time,_ Xuxi had said, tossing Renjun a wink that had made him laugh and cringe at the same time. The rest of the dinner _had_ gone pretty well, and they'd ended it on amicable terms, exchanging numbers at the table after Xuxi had paid.

The only weird thing about the dinner had been Kun's watchful eye, Renjun thinks. He'd had no time to explain that Xuxi wasn't the one — Kun had pushed them outside of the restaurant, telling them to _come back anytime_ , and that _Monday crab is half off for couples!_

Outside, Renjun had gone scarlet, stuttering through an apology.

_All good,_ Xuxi had said, laughing it off with that same warm smile. _I'll have to keep that in mind. My boyfriend loves crab._

_Oh_ , Renjun had said, sounding so relieved that both he and Xuxi had burst into laughter afterwards at the misunderstanding.

_Introduce me next time_ , Renjun had said, and Xuxi had laughed and made him promise the same — _when it works out with whoever Kun thought I was supposed to be_.

Renjun comes out of his own thoughts, frowning when he realizes that Jaemin hasn't responded.

"Am I boring you?" he asks, reaching out to brush a few strands of Jaemin's hair out of his eyes. "We can talk about something else, if you want."

Jaemin hesitates, and Renjun holds his breath subconsciously as he waits. Finally, his expression relaxes, and Renjun relaxes, too, as Jaemin pouts and reaches out to hold one of his hands.

"I want to hear about your week, though," Jaemin says, sneaking their fingers together. "Tell me more."

Renjun's heart skips a beat at the way their fingers lock together easily. The sight of their hands, together, sets off another storm of butterflies within him, and he thinks, suddenly, back to that one couple that he had given a tour to.

"More?" Renjun blinks, searching for where he left off. "Okay. Well, after he paid, we gave each other our numbers..."

He trails off, taking in the way Jaemin's eyes dim slightly.

"And then," Renjun continues, squeezing Jaemin's hand, "Xuxi told me that he'd try to visit Kun's with his boyfriend on Monday."

That gets Jaemin's attention, and he perks up. "His boyfriend?"

"His boyfriend," Renjun confirms, smiling at Jaemin's expression.

"Good," Jaemin mutters, but he smiles back at Renjun — his first genuine smile of the day — and Renjun feels its warmth spread throughout his body like his smile is the sun.

He takes Jaemin's other hand into his own and squeezes. "There's actually something I wanted to give you."

Jaemin looks at him cautiously. "Me?"

Renjun hums, unfastening the pouch attached to his shorts. "You," he confirms.

"It's been a month since we've met," Renjun says, smiling shyly at Jaemin. "And I, um. Wanted to give you something, because getting to know you has been the best part of my summer, and I'm just really grateful that we're friends."

He takes the gift out of the pouch, lowering his eyes embarrassedly. "This is something I used to make when I was a kid, but it took me a while to figure out how to make it waterproof. I think I got it, though."

"The blue and purple is for you, obviously," Renjun rambles, nervous. "Last time, you said you liked pink, so I tried dyeing some of the string a little pink too."

"It's called a friendship bracelet," he adds quietly, peeking at Jaemin's face. "You wear it on your wrist. Or, um — if you don't want to, that's fine too. You can...keep it anywhere you want."

Jaemin stares at him, eyes flicking between the pouch and his face.

"You did this," he says, eyes shimmering, "for...me?"

"...yes?"

"I love it," Jaemin says, but his eyes are on Renjun's face, and Renjun flushes at the raw emotion in his voice. "Can you put it on for me?"

"Of course," Renjun whispers, fitting it carefully over Jaemin's fingers. It fits well, not too wide or too narrow, and when he lets go, the threads shimmer softly on Jaemin's wrist.

"Thank you," Jaemin says, his expression more vulnerable than Renjun has ever seen. "For the gift."

He takes a deep breath. "I don't know if you know how much this means to me," he says, eyes shining with emotion. "But Renjun — I —"

His voice falters, and a single tear balances on his eyelashes, cloudy and pearlescent. "I like you," he says. "I really, _really_ —"

He hiccups, and he laughs at himself, a few tears spilling over his eyelashes. The tear tracks glimmer on his face, small, pearl-like drops rolling off of the rock and into the water.

"I really, really like you," Jaemin whispers, "and I've kind of been courting you for a while."

Renjun stares at him, speechless.

"Please don't be mad," Jaemin says, drawing in on himself.

"I'm not mad," Renjun says blankly. He blinks at Jaemin in disbelief. "You really...like me?"

Jaemin nods. "I was going to give you _my_ gift today," he says, giving Renjun a pained smile. "But you started talking about someone else, and I just…I was scared I lost my chance."

"I started talking about Xuxi," Renjun says, thoughts turning in his head. "Our dinner."

Jaemin sniffs. "But then you —"

His eyes start to water again, and he presses his lips together, looking at Renjun helplessly.

"You gave _me_ a gift," he whispers. "You didn't even know what it means to me, but you did it anyway."

Renjun stares at Jaemin — cheeks flushed, lips bitten red with nerves, silver tear tracks on his face — and thinks that nothing could ever compare to the sight in front of him.

_I can have this_ , he thinks, and feels dizzy with the possibility of it all.

Jaemin takes a deep breath, swallowing nervously. "I know this is a lot, and I'll understand if you say no, but will you let me give you your gift?"

"Yes," Renjun breathes.

Jaemin nods to himself, exhaling shakily. "Okay," he says, eyes meeting Renjun's own. "It might seem silly, but this is my — my most prized possession," he says, voice wavering. "Because there's a drawing of me on it. I found it years and years ago, but I've never been able to open it, because I'd, um, get it wet, and that would ruin it."

"So I kept it safe for years," Jaemin says. "When I thought of what to give you...it just felt right."

Then, Jaemin pulls out a familiar bottle, offering it to Renjun, and Renjun — feels his heart stop.

𓆝𓆟𓆜𓆞𓆡

_To whom it may concern,_

_My name is Renjun. I am ten years old. I love mysteries and cats and the ocean. I'm writing this message because it's honestly a very cool idea and I think it will be interesting to see where it actually goes. Did you know that some bottles were discovered more than fifty years after they were sent? I wonder if I'll still be around when this is discovered. I think it's ok if I'm not. At least this message is still here. So I'm still here, or at least part of me is._

_If you get this letter, that means that the ocean decided that out of everybody in the world, you're the one who's supposed to see it. It's like magic! I wonder what you're like. You must be at least a little like me, if you found this by the ocean. I live next to the ocean too._

_You should write back if you can! Maybe we could be good friends. My full name is Huang Renjun. If you do write back, you should write to this address: #### ########### #######. I don't know if I'll still live there when you read this, but even if I'm not, someone should be able to find me. ~~I hope~~. No, I know. Destiny is never wrong._

_Well, it was nice meeting you! I hope we get to meet one day in real life._

_P.S. Do you think aliens are real? I do. You should let me know if you do write back._

𓆝𓆟𓆜𓆞𓆡

With shaking hands, Renjun takes the bottle from Jaemin. He traces the drawing of a mermaid he had drawn hastily onto the side of the bottle as an afterthought.

"You said you found this years ago?"

Jaemin nods.

Renjun pops the cork off and slides the message out. The paper is coiled tightly together, and he unravels it slowly, feeling tears come to his eyes as the familiar handwriting is revealed.

"To whom it may concern," Renjun says, voice trembling. "My name is Renjun. I am ten years old. I love mysteries and cats and the ocean —"

He inhales sharply, putting the paper down and burying his face in his hands as he cries.

"I can't believe you found this," Renjun says, voice muffled. He looks up at Jaemin. "And that I found you."

𓆝𓆟𓆜𓆞𓆡

"Will you read me the rest of the letter?"

Jaemin's eyes are tender and soft as he cards his hands through Renjun's hair. "I'm curious as to what else you said."

"Yeah," Renjun says weakly, reaching for the roll of paper. "It was probably really embarrassing though. You can't laugh."

"I promise I won't laugh," Jaemin says, a smile already playing at the corners of his lips. "...much."

Renjun looks up at him.

"What am I going to do with you?" He asks fondly, kissing Jaemin's cheek, because he can, and reveling in the way soft pink blooms across Jaemin's skin.

"Tease you?"

A kiss to the right cheek.

"Keep you?"

A kiss to the left cheek.

"Love you?"

Renjun's lips brush lightly against Jaemin's.

"Hm," he murmurs. "I think I like this one the best."

They kiss, slow and sweet.

"I can't believe I get to do this now," Jaemin says, soft and amazed, when he pulls back.

Renjun licks his lips. "Me neither," he says, lips curling upwards. "Maybe we should do it again. Just — you know. As a reminder."

"Good idea," Jaemin says, leaning in, and the next time they kiss, his smile is bright and happy against Renjun's own.

𓆝𓆟𓆜𓆞𓆡

"I'm writing this message," Renjun starts, "because it's honestly a very cool idea and I think it will be interesting to see where it actually goes. Did you know that some bottles were discovered more than fifty years after they were sent?"

"I did not," Jaemin says. "I'm glad it didn't take me fifty years to find this one."

"Me too," Renjun says, smiling up at him, and Jaemin smiles back, pecking him on the lips.

"I wonder if I'll still be around when this is discovered," Renjun reads. He snorts. "I think it's ok if I'm not. At least this message is still here. So I'm still here, or at least part of me is."

"You were so cute," Jaemin says, hands playing with Renjun's hair. "Definitely still around."

Renjun's heart thumps in his chest at the next sentence.

"If you get this letter, that means that the ocean decided that out of everybody in the world, you're the one who's supposed to see it," he reads. "It's like magic!"

"I wonder what you're like. You must be at least a little like me, if you found this by the ocean. I live next to the ocean too."

Renjun looks purposefully towards Jaemin's tail. "Little did I know," he murmurs, "that the person who found this would live _in_ the ocean."

"Surprise," Jaemin says dryly, and Renjun laughs, taking his hand and holding it.

"You should write back if you can!" Renjun continues. "Maybe we could be good friends."

"Well," Jaemin says thoughtfully, "you weren't wrong." He smiles at Renjun. "We are pretty good friends."

"Maybe even a little more than that," Renjun says, laughing. "Ten-year-old me should've been more ambitious."

"Okay, last few lines," Renjun says, shifting in Jaemin's lap.

"My full name is Huang Renjun," he reads. "If you do write back, you should write to this address: #### ########### #######. I don't know if I'll still live there when you read this, but even if I'm not, someone should be able to find me."

"Do you still live there?" Jaemin asks.

"Yeah," Renjun says, before blinking. "Wait. No. I do now, but I might be moving here in a month or two, after summer is over."

Jaemin straightens. "You're moving here?"

"I think so," Renjun says. "So we'll be able to see each other —"

"Every day," Jaemin says softly, eyes shimmering. He cups Renjun's face and kisses it gently. "I can't wait."

"Okay, wait," Renjun says, wriggling out of Jaemin's hold. "I'm almost done."

"So I wrote I hope, but I crossed that out and wrote: No, I know," Renjun says, smiling. "Destiny is never wrong."

"Well," he finishes, "it was nice meeting you! I hope we get to meet one day in real life. P.S. Do you think aliens are real? I do. You should let me know if you do write back."

"You think aliens are real?" Jaemin's eyes crinkle as he smiles. "That's so cute."

"I thought merpeople were real too," Renjun retaliates, and Jaemin laughs, loud and bright.

"Fair."

Renjun re-rolls the paper and slips it into the bottle, pushing the cork back in. "Destiny truly is amazing," he murmurs. "All the people in the world, and my message is discovered by the merman that I love."

"Maybe the ocean knew," Jaemin hums. "She did bring us together on that first day."

"Maybe," Renjun says, and beams a little message of thanks into the waters, just in case.

𓆝𓆟𓆜𓆞𓆡

"Moving day!" Xuxi announces exuberantly, hauling a box out of Doyoung's car and taking the stairs up to Jisung's cabin two at a time.

"He always has so much energy in the mornings," Doyoung says flatly, lifting his sunglasses up to reveal his narrowed eyes. "Did he really just drop a pair of socks?"

"You know Xuxi," Kun says, sighing and hoisting a few bags onto his shoulder. "His heart is in the right place. I'll pick up the socks on my way up."

"Kun, I got the socks," Chenle yells, from where he is, halfway down the stairs.

"Okay!"

"What socks?" Xuxi yells.

Doyoung sucks in a breath in between his teeth and gets back in his car. "Is that all of Chenle's stuff?"

"I think so," Renjun says, double checking the box labels. "The rest should be mine."

"Fantastic," Doyoung says dryly. "We'll drive over to your cabin now, then. Tell them to come when they're done."

Renjun leans his head out of the window.

"Kun!"

Kun's head snaps around.

"We're driving to the other cabin," Renjun yells. "Just come by when you're done!"

"Got it," Kun yells back, and Renjun gives him a thumbs up as Doyoung's car pulls out of its parking position at the base of the steps, and rolls forward.

𓆝𓆟𓆜𓆞𓆡

"I think that should be it — _woah_."

Renjun pokes his head out of the door. "What?"

"There's this _huge_ lake like, right behind your backyard," Xuxi says, pointing behind him. "And it connects to these rivers that flow all the way down. Dude, be careful around that. The waters look like they're moving pretty fast."

Renjun's eyes widen. "There is?"

"Xuxi, are you done?" Doyoung yells. "If you're not in the car in the next sixty seconds, we'll just leave without you!"

"Oops," Xuxi says. He tugs Renjun into a hug, patting him on the back. "Have fun unpacking! Visit us soon! Bye!"

Then he turns and sprints down the hill, yelling for Doyoung to — "wait thirty more seconds!" He reaches the car in record time, flying through the door and scrambling to close it just as the engine revs.

Then, it's quiet.

Renjun looks in the direction of the supposed lake curiously, then back at his unpacked boxes.

_Unpacking can wait,_ he decides, and makes his way behind his house.

The first thing Renjun registers when the lake comes into view is its sheer _size_. Xuxi wasn't exaggerating, he thinks, when he said it was huge. From the looks of it, the lake is pretty deep, too.

The second thing Renjun registers is a suspicious shadow darting across the lake.

"No way," he says out loud, mouth breaking out into a grin. "No _way_."

Something bursts through the water, glittering blue-purple in the air and splashing water in all directions — including Renjun.

"You're _so_ lucky I didn't wear my nice shorts," Renjun says, crossing his arms and standing at the edge of the lake. "And that Xuxi warned me about the dangers of —"

"Come here," Jaemin growls, reaching out and pulling Renjun into the water. "And I'll show you _danger_."

Renjun giggles, letting himself be tugged closer and closing his eyes in anticipation when Jaemin places a hand on the small of his back and presses him in closer. Jaemin licks into his mouth with a single-minded determination, tongue curling around his in a way that makes Renjun's head feel pleasantly foggy, and he sighs into the kiss, pleased.

Jaemin's answering smile is sweet against his lips, and he presses a dozen tiny kisses to Renjun's mouth before leaning back, both of them floating in the water.

"I can't believe Xuxi told you about the lake," Jaemin says, pouting cutely. "I wanted to surprise you."

Renjun opens his eyes reluctantly, licking at his lips. Jaemin's lips are awfully shiny, he thinks, and that's just — unacceptably attractive.

Really, how is he supposed to resist?

"Hmm," Renjun says, leaning in and kissing Jaemin again. And again. And —

"Are you trying to distract me?" Jaemin asks incredulously, pulling back.

Renjun blinks innocently up at him. "Is it working?"

"Is it _working_ ," Jaemin repeats, looking at him with an incredible amount of fondness. He pokes Renjun's cheek. "Silly human. I'm in _love_ with you. Of course it's working."

"I love you too," Renjun murmurs, cheeks heating up underneath Jaemin's gaze. "You're just so adorable when you get riled up about Xuxi."

"It was supposed to be a _surprise_ ," Jaemin mutters, tightening his arms around Renjun. "It took a while to figure out how to get here, okay? Of course Xuxi had to be the one that warned you."

"He was just being considerate," Renjun smiles, brushing their noses together. "You should try being a little nicer to him."

"You're supposed to be on my side," Jaemin says, betrayed.

Renjun laughs happily. "I _am_ on your side," he says, pecking the corner of Jaemin's mouth. "But Xuxi is seriously a good guy. I'm not sure if he thinks you even exist, honestly, but he's never weird about it."

"Bring him here then," Jaemin says grumpily. "Then he'll know that I exist."

"You wouldn't want him here," Renjun says, smiling. He looks down, linking their fingers together.

Jaemin deflates. "I wouldn't," he agrees. "Okay, less talking about other people," he says. "More kissing."

And Renjun finds that he really can't think of anything — much less _anyone_ else — when Jaemin kisses him so sweetly, tail curling gently around him.

**Author's Note:**

> i've been thinking and working on this for a few months now, so it's a bit surreal to be done with it already! i'll try to keep this brief:
> 
>   1. fun fact: jaemin's name (literally translated from its chinese characters) means a citizen from the great zai river! (and of course, renjun's name is true to its meaning as well)
>   2. if anyone is curious, [here (fish drawing 1)](https://www.netclipart.com/pp/m/126-1266600_betta-bettafish-fish-bettasplendens-purple-lilac-betta-fish.png) and [here (fish drawing 2)](https://i.pinimg.com/236x/59/90/84/599084b687e0b49586df03d526d9d5db.jpg) are some quick color references i used for jaemin's tail ^^
> 

> 
> thank you for reading!!
> 
> [twt](https://twitter.com/dreamingmp3) / [cc](https://curiouscat.qa/dreamingmp3)


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